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Chapter 12
Business Process and Job (Re)Design
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Business Processes, Work Groups, and Jobs
12.3 Business Process Redesign (BPR)
12.3.1 Diagnosis
12.3.2 (Re)Design
1 2.3.3 Implementation
1 2.3.4 Institutionalization
1 2.4 The Nature of Jobs and Need for Job Design
12.5 Approaches to Job Design
12.5.1 Job Enlargement and Job Rotation
12.5.2 Job Enrichment
12.5.3 Job Characteristics Approach
12.5.4 Sociotechnical (Systems) Approach
1 2.5.5 Quality of Work Life (QWL) Programs
12.5.6 Empowerment
12.5.7 Perspectives on Job Design Approaches
12.6 The Relationship between Technology, Business Process, and Job Design
12.6.1 Computer-Mediated Work
12.6.1.1
Coping with Computer Logic
12.6.1.2
Worker Frustration
12.6.1.3
Altered Social Structure
12.6.2 De-Skilling Versus Enhancing Jobs
12.6.3 Changes in Organizational Structure and Communications
1 2.6.4 Technology as an Enabler for Job and Work Group
Design
1 2.7 The Redesign of Jobs
12.7.1 Characteristics of Motivating Jobs
12.7.2 Designing Jobs for Individuals
12.7.3 Designing Self-Managing Work Groups
12.7.3.1
Criteria for Group Effectiveness
12.7.3.2
Composition of Work Groups
12.7.4 Analyzing Opportunities for Work Redesign
12.7.4.1
Consultants
12.7.4.2
Mission Statement of the Work Unit
12.7.4.3
Work Flow Analysis
12.7.4.4
Observations and Interviews
12.7.4.5
Survey Instruments
12.7.4.6
Physical Layout
12.8 Technology, Business Process, and Job Design in Perspective
12.9 Summary
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this chapter, you should be able to:
~ Recognize how end-user computing introduces change at the
organizational, work group, and individual levels throughout the
org nization.
)
Explain why business process redesign is a critical competence for
contemporary organizations.
)
Describe the four basic phases of business process redesign methodology.
~ Explain the difference between command-and-control management and
empowerment.
~ Describe how to establish boundaries to create empowerment while
maintaining appropriate managerial control.
~ Discuss the need for job (re)design.
Differentiate between task analysis and job analysis.
Identify various approaches to business process and job redesign.
Explain the major characteristics of jobs that motivate workers.
Identify core job dimensions to be considered when designing jobs.
~ Choose appropriate techniques for redesigning jobs.
)
Evaluate the way organizations are using technology to redesign jobs.
1 2. 1
INTRODUCTION
As indicated in the previous chapter, implementing end-user information systems
(EUJS) is as much about new ways of working as it is about information technology. The
unprecedented pressure for change in organizations is being driven by more than
technology. Many of the basic principles and assumptions underlying how enterprises
organize and operate are changing as well. These changes have a powerful influence on
the interrelationship of all four variables of the Systems Change Model: structure, people,
process, and technology. Some of the most significant of these shifts are highlighted
briefly.
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1. Structure. One of the most far-reaching changes is a shift from a
segmented, functional orientation in thinking about
organizational structure to a process-driven, integrated
orientation. This shift puts greater focus on satisfying customer
needs and requirements, and meeting them at all points in the
process of delivering products and services. It challenges
industrial era rules regarding organization hierarchy and
command-and-control management.
2. People—both workers and customers. Individual performance
based on stable, defined responsibilities is shifting to a team
performance model with greater flexibility to meet the
requirements of the organization. Instead of being based on
loyalty and obedience in exchange for long-term security, the
psychological work contract has shifted to performance-based
results in exchange for long-term employability and opportunity.
Compensation models have shifted from security and
predictability to risk-based models based on individual, team,
and organizational performance. Workers in empowered
environments have greater responsibility and control within
defined boundaries.
The increasing sophistication of customers, along with other
competitive marketplace forces, have simultaneously raised the
performance bar not just for today’s products and services but in
the realization that when a company is standing still, it risks
being overtaken and left in the dust. The driving force of the
organization shifts from an internal growth and profit-centered
focus to an external customer satisfaction focus.
3. Process. The orientation for organizing work in the information
economy has shifted from an internal focus on tasks and
functions to an external focus on core business processes that
deliver value for customers. The process view transcends
traditional functions and departments and shifts the focus to the
work that is actually done and the manner in which this work is
performed. It profoundly alters the thinking about how to
organize work and how to manage the workforce.
4. Technology. Advances in information technology have
fundamentally altered established management models. With
digital networks that provide instant access to information and
knowledge at all levels of the enterprise, some of the traditional
middle management roles of gathering, disseminating, and
controlling information are no longer needed. The implication of
data converted to information, to knowledge, and then to
wisdom is just beginning to be realized.
Throughout this text, we emphasize that using information
technology effectively involves more than implementing hardware
and software. Job design and business process restructuring are key
components of EUIS project management. Opportunities for
business process and job redesign are assessed in the initial stages
of EUIS projects. Depending upon the size, scope, and strategic
importance of a project, EUIS analysts may need to address the
issue of job and work group design, either alone or in conjunction
with broader business process restructuring efforts. Redesigning
business processes and jobs is extremely challenging. Major
endeavors are not for the fainthearted. The endeavor must be
approached in a systematic, structured way. It is important to
understand the fundamental principles of business process and job
design, as well as the technology.
This chapter considers the impact of technology on the design of
business
processes and knowledge work. It focuses on new opportunities to
create work environments that meet organizational and individual
needs in line with changing
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
work values. The chapter begins with a discussion of the
larger picture of busines! process redesign (i.e.,
reengineering). The discussion then turns to work group!
and individual jobs. Several approaches to job and work
group design are pre sented. The chapter concludes with
a discussion of methods that take advantage o
technology to design motivating and productive work
environments.
12.2
BusINEss PROCESSES, WORK GROUPS, AND JOBS
Technology is both an enabler and a constraint on
business process, work group and job design. System
limitations can restrict greatly an enterprise’s flexibility
ti innovate and change business processes. Indeed, many
new approaches to man aging business process and work
tasks depend on the availability of advanced in
formation networks. A long legacy of industrial era
thinking about how to desigi jobs and organize work
also acts as a constraint in efforts to change busines!
processes. Work rules, especially when stipulated by
union contracts, reward sys tems, corporate cultures, and
other factors, can pose significant challenges.
Information technology affects business processes,
work grotips, and jobs. It’! a long way from simply
understanding the value of IT to realizing it on the botton
line. As important as IT is, its value in improving
performance depends on align ing all four of the change
variables. “My view is that technology is only a
support— an enabler—for changing practices,” says
James Yost, Ford Motor Company’s CIC and Head of
Process Leadership. “You must integrate IT into the
texture of th business.”’ Thus, Ford Motor Company has
married IT and process leadership Their IT group is
divided into three service areas: process and technology
(proces! documentation and change leadership plus
translation of process into IT require ments), solutions
delivery (application development and deployment), and
tech nical services (IT infrastructure).
Technology always forces changes in job
responsibilities, task content, and hu man interactions. It
often brings change in organizational structure and
culture, a! well. Studies in the United States and Europe
have shown that when organization! ignore people
issues, new systems result in poorer job designs. Poor
job desigt threatens the well-being and performance of
knowledge workers. Thoughtful de sign, on the other
hand, can enhance both productivity and quality of work
life Thus, to achieve the full benefits of technology,
analysts must address the issues o job design, as well as
systems design and business process design.
When analysts and decision makers design systems
and select equipment, thq need to consider how their
choices will alter the tasks people perform. Decisiot
makers mistakenly assume that selecting the right
technology is the most impor tant part of improving
productivity. Considerable evidence to the contrary sug
gests that technology often affects productivity less than
good job design does.
Although job design is an important issue in
systems design, traditional ana lysts often consider job
design outside their responsibility, or they assume that
em ployees will apply technology intuitively. When job
design is not part of the projec scope, analysts frequently
design jobs unknowingly. Consequently, changes ma~
be haphazard and ignore worker motivation and job
satisfaction. Even when at tention is given to human
factors, analysts often concentrate on such technical as
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pects as ease of use, lighting, and furniture, and ignore the role of
workers. Implementers also need to look carefully at the
characteristics of the jobs being changed or created when technology
is introduced. They should know the elements of job and systems
designs that meet personal, social, and technical objectives.
Many of the problems with the use of technology lie in the way
systems analysts typically design and cost justify new technology.
Using the cost savings approach described in chapter 9, analysts often
justify equipment costs by projecting reduced operating costs. In the
past, reducing operating costs usually meant cutting salary expenses
by designing systems that minimize the need for skills. In the process,
analysts often ignored worker motivation and job satisfaction.
Resultant jobs usually were narrowly defined, and production goals
and controls were set by supervisors with little or no participation by
employees.
This narrow approach to job design limits opportunities for users
to benefit from the full capabilities of new systems. For example, in
one case, although analysts acknowledged the importance of worker
satisfaction and motivation and expected workers to be capable and
skilled, the system they developed was appropriate for only low-level,
repetitive jobs. Not only did the narrow approach miss the point, it
also created a climate that led to low morale and increased turnover.
Thus, it is important when redesigning business processes or implementing information technologies to consider job design, as well.
Neglecting to address behavioral issues such as job design is at
the root of many information system and reengineering failures.
Assumptions about work performance, productivity, and worker
behavior often implicitly affect decisions about systems design. This
has led to misguided attempts to improve performance through
downsizing rather than sound principles of business process and job
design.
~.3
BUSINESS PROCESS REDESIGN (BPR)
Much has been written in recent years about business process
redesign (BPR), or reengineering. Reengineering guru Michael
Hammer defines reengineering as the “fundamental rethinking and
radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic
improvement in critical, contemporary measures of performance,
such as cost, quality, service, and speed.”2 The primary distinctions
between reengineering and other work improvement methods are the
emphasis on fundamental rethinking of work design rather than
incremental improvement, and the focus on business processes rather
than functions and work tasks.
Although often viewed somewhat negatively because of its
association with widespread downsizing, reengineering has become a
widely accepted methodology for business change. The need for BPR
is greater than ever. Thousands of enterprises around the world are
faced with the daunting task of shifting from stable,
command-and-control hierarchical structures to more fleet, flexible,
flatter organizational structures that fully utilize the capabilities of a
diverse workforce in order to compete in the fast-paced, global
marketplace of the twenty-first century. Harold S. Resnick, a Boston
management consultant, characterizes the challenge in this way:
“Steering the ship of our organizations has shifted from dealing with
periods of turbulence amid relatively calm seas to continuous,
relentless whitewater rafting.
“‘
pter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
BPR can be approached at different levels. At the
enterprise level, BPR gent ally focuses on reengineering
an entire organization or a department or divisi within
that organization. Changes of this magnitude may take
several years to c sign and implement fully. At the
business process level, reengineering efforts generally
smaller in scope, requiring a set of solutions that are less
broad and c be addressed much more quickly Business
process redesign can be simple or coi plex,
encompassing an entire core business process or limited
to specific st processes. BPR may occur at the divisional,
unit, work-group, and job leve Because improvement
opportunities usually are driven or enabled by informati
technologies, EUIS analysts and project managers may
be called upon to lead contribute to such efforts.
BPR challenges the core purposes or assumptions
underlying a busin process. It requires a willingness to
undergo critical self-analysis and to be open change of
the broadest and deepest kind. To succeed at BPR,
enterprises must prepared to sustain the discipline
required of a rigorous process.
Before undertaking BPR efforts, enterprises must
have defined their core bu ness processes. This step is
key because it helps focus management attention on
important areas where work gets done and how that
work relates to creating val for the customer. Once
identified, core business processes can be further brok
down, if desired, into smaller components that can be
more suitable for redesig
A core business process can be defined as “a
collection of activities that takes o or more kinds of input
and creates an output that is of value to the customer.”4 0
approach to identifying core business processes is to
identify their beginning ai their end. For example, the
sales process could be called the “prospect to orc process,
the manufacturing process might be called the “order to
delivc process,” and the customer service process might
be called the “customer delivc to repurchase process.”
Most companies have between 5 and 10 core busin
processes that essentially define the business. Some
enterprises find it difficult identify core business
processes because they tend to think in terms of
departmex and functions instead of in terms of what
work must be done and the manner which is it performed.
Various techniques, such as mapping and tree diagra’
ming, can help enterprises identify and define their core
business processes.
Various reengineering methodologies have
emerged, many of them prop etary to specific consulting
firms. In general, BPR follows a highly structur
methodology based on four basic phases involving
diagnosis,
(re)design,
imp
mentation,
and
institutionalization. Some methodologies also include a
strate~ planning phase—where core business processes
are defined as described in preceding paragraph—at the
beginning as part of the reengineering methodolo~ The
four basic phases are described briefly in the sections
that follow.
12.3.1
Diagnosis
The diagnosis phase involves a series of structured steps
intended to creat shared vision for the business process
redesign, compare this desired state to ci rent operations,
and determine how to move the organization from the
curn state to the desired state. The following steps are
involved in the diagnosis pha:
1. Once the core business process or subprocess to be
redesigned is identified, the first step is to craft a
shared vision for the reengineered process. The vision establishes clear goals for the new process in
line with the business str egy and serves to focus the
efforts of all stakeholders. At the heart of the
vision must be a true understanding of customer
needs. To move the enter-
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prise forward, the redesign vision must radically challenge thinking
about how the work is done, alter the assumptions underlying the
current process, and set realistic but challenging performance
targets. A meaningful vision defines specific characteristics and
measurable objectives for the redesigned process. Creating a BPR
vision is a balance among inspiration, innovation, and measurable
targets. The clearer and more specific the vision is, the more likely
the enterprise is to achieve the radical redesign required for
organizational repositioning.
2. The vision is then tested against high-level, external benchmarks of
the process. Unless the results of current industry leaders are
examined, it will be difficult to determine whether the goals are
realistic or might be set too low or too high. For example, if the BPR
vision is to reduce the average time required to fulfill a customer
order from 10 days to 3 days, is that a good goal? If the industry
leader currently takes 6 days, perhaps it is unrealistic. On the other
hand, if the industry leader does it in 2 days, the goal may not be
good enough. Benchmarking should not be limited to current
industry leaders, however. It should be extended to any
environment in which a similar process is deployed. The best
innovations often originate from applying successful practices in
one industry or discipline to an entirely different field.
3. The next step is to define critical success factors (CSFs) that must
be accomplished in order for the newly designed process to be
successful for the enterprise. The CSFs may address technical
performance, customer satisfaction, cycle time, technical quality,
marketplace forces, or other such factors. Measures generally are
defined in terms of customer value, costs, return on investment,
time, quality, or quantity
4. The next step is gaining agreement on the scope of the business
process. It is important to define the boundaries within which the
business process redesign must achieve its results. Boundary
conditions may be established for products or services to be
included, markets, customers, costs, physical space, technology,
personnel, or other internal or external requirements.
5. Describing the current process. This step is intended to ensure that
the reengineering team fully understands the current process before
redesigning it. Usually the process will be diagrammed on a
flowchart and then verified by users. The analysis should identify
inputs, outputs, and measures of all major steps of the current
process. All stakeholders must be clearly identified, including
owners, users, and customers of the process.
6. Then, the current process is subjected to detailed internal and
external bench-marking. Internal benchmarking involves a careful
analysis to establish baseline performance measures. External
benchmarking involves a detailed and thorough investigation of
other enterprises to identify best practices. It is important to look not
only at what results are achieved but also how they are achieved.
Suppliers and customers are good sources of information regarding
possible benchmarks.
7. Compare current performance with desired performance (vision).
Gap analysis involves comparing performance on current
benchmarks with the target benchmarks and assessing envisioned
performance for the new process to identify strengths and
weaknesses. Attention must be paid not just to what is done but
specifically how it is done. If the envisioned process were implemented, what would it look like in terms of how work is performed,
as well as outputs? This analysis identifies the key areas that must
be addressed in the new process design phase.
~apter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
8. The final diagnosis step is root cause analysis to determine
why the current process fails to meet the desired vision and
strategic goals. During root cause analysis, constraints and
enablers are identified. This analysis provides a starting
point for the redesign effort, which should seek to remove
constraints and strengthen or maintain the enablers.
12.3.2
(Re)Design
The second phase of BPR is designing the new process, which
includes flowcharting the new process and addressing the people,
structure, and technology requirements. The design phase is
completed in steps and tested to evaluate how well the newly
designed process will achieve the vision and benchmarks. Steps
in (re)design are initial process redesign, process walkthrough,
prototype, pilot test, and final process design.
1. Initial process redesign. Process redesign addresses all four
organizational variables: technology, process, people, and
structure. This step seeks to create a true breakthrough
design concept. Technology plays an especially critical role
in this step as an enabler for process innovation. This is the
phase in which the true distinction between reengineering
and other incremental improvement approaches is realized.
The objective is to invent a new approach based on new
ways of thinking about the desired vision and outputs rather
than merely refining the old process. Reengineering guru
Michael Hammer calls it the breakthrough design concept.
This step produces a new flowchart of how the process
should work to meet its critical success factors, achieve
desired benchmarks, and fulfill the process vision.
2. Process walkthrough. After the new process has been
created (i.e., reengineered), it must be reviewed in detail
389
with all key stakeholders and analyzed to determine whether
it truly is capable of working as intended. Will the process
fulfill the needs of all key stakeholders including users,
interim customers, and suppliers? Is the enterprise capable
of implementing and sustaining the required changes? If not,
can it secure the required resources and at what cost?
3. Prototype. Based on feedback from the process
walkthroughs, adjustments are made to the original design.
Then, a prototype is developed and tested under simulated
conditions to determine whether it meets performance
expectations. Additional refinements are made as necessary
until the process achieves performance expectations based
on established benchmarks.
4. Pilot testing. The process now is ready to be tested in a live,
controlled environment. Generally, it is desirable to select as
favorable a setting as possible. Strong commitment of
participants to the success of the endeavor is important
because glitches and many questions still remain, which
may require some perseverance and ingenuity to resolve.
The pilot test identifies problems and additional changes,
assesses the robustness of the new process under use, and
provides initial measures of results against established
benchmarks.
5. Final process design. The results of the prototype testing are
analyzed and evaluated to modify the process and create the
final integration of the new process. Formal approvals are
then sought from process owners, a steering committee, user
groups, suppliers, customers, and any other stakeholders.
Once approved, the reengineering effort is ready to move
ahead with full implementation.
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12.3.3
Implementation
Implementation also is conducted in stages. The first step is to
convert the pilot developed during design into steady state use.
Implementation then continues in stages until all remaining parts
of the newly designed business process are fully operational and
the results have been measured against established benchmarks.
1. Implementation plan. The implementation plan defines the
who, what, when, where, and how of implementation. The
plan must address issues such as budget, timing, required
resources, training of personnel, structural adjustments, and
communication of changes to all stakeholders.
Documentation, reference materials, training programs, and
other tools may need to be developed. How will the
implementation be phased, and most importantly, how will
operations be transitioned from existing practice to the new
process with minimal disruption? The plan must be
approved by the process owner and steering committee.
2. Initial field implementation. Implementation generally is
completed in phases to minimize disruption. Core business
processes, by definition, are central components of the
business. Making major changes can be somewhat like
trying to change the tire on a car while it’s speeding down
the highway at 60 mph. Generally, the initial field
implementation will require considerable resources and
attention. The scope and length of the initial implementation
depends on circumstances. Often, the timing for successive
implementations may not be finalized until the initial
implementation is fully operational and the new process
consistently is meeting the vision, critical success factors,
and defined measures. If problems occur or the process fails
to perform as anticipated, further implementation may be
delayed while the new process undergoes further redesign,
based on the initial experience.
It is especially important during this initial
implementation to validate the benefits of the newly
designed process. This is the point where it is important to
remember that different is not necessarily better, and it is
critical to demonstrate that the reengineered approach does
in fact produce significantly better results. Any supporting
infrastructure required to support full implementation of the
reengineered process also must be implemented at this point.
3. Phased rollout. Once the initial implementation is stabilized
and operating as envisioned, the next phases of
implementation proceed. Implementation may be phased by
region, by customer groups, by product groups, by plant, or
using other approaches that make sense for the particular
enterprise. As the implementation proceeds, the
implementation team usually strives to refine the
implementation process itself, as well as the reengineered
design. The implementation team learns to anticipate
potential problems and to avoid or minimize them. Each new
phase generally benefits from the lessons learned in the prior
implementations. As the success of early implementations is
established and results are verified, concerns and resistance
among user groups in the later installations often begin to
dissipate.
12.3.4
Institutionalization
Once the reengineered business process is implemented and
fully operational, the final stage is alignment with other business
processes. This stage must be monitored regularly as an ongoing
part of normal business operations based on the established
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
benchmarks. This final step would include a transition to
the enterprise’s ongoin continuous improvement
process.
In addition to the focus on redesigning the business
process, successful r engineering efforts also must
address issues of job and work group design. This a
requirement not only for reengineering but for almost
any technology impleme:
tation. The impact on jobs must be assessed with an eye
to using technology as
enabler for improving work, encouraging innovation,
and supporting high perfc
mance levels
1 2.4
THE NATURE OF JOBS AND NEED
FOR JOB DESIGN
The term job design means “the formal and informal
specification of tasks that a performed by employees,
including expected interpersonal relationships and ta~
interdependence. Ideally, the needs and goals of both
employees and the orgar zation are taken into account in
job design or redesign.”5 The term job design su gests a
systematic process for determining the content of a job.
It implies that tl content, interdependencies, and
personal relationships of a job are thought o carefully to
accomplish organizational goals. In fact, not all jobs are
the result of j design. Jobs often evolve haphazardly All
too frequently, work is divided bas~ upon the skills and
preferences of available staff rather than logical design
prin ples. Every time a manager assigns work or gives
instrtictions, job design occui Likewise, when analysts
design information systems, jobs are affected. Co
sciously or unconsciously, many factors influence the
design of jobs.
Ajob generally is defined organizationally. A
formal description legitimizes tl position and defines the
tasks, responsibility, authority, accountability, role in tl
organization, and pay scale for the person in each job.
Past practice has been to d fine jobs in terms of a set of
specific tasks: preparing budgets, typing correspo dence,
writing computer programs, conducting meetings,
writing repor supervising employees, appraising
performance, hiring staff, analyzing financi
trends, evaluating market data, teaching job skills, or forecasting sales. The tas that make up a job may
change over time, and the group of tasks that constitutc job may be designed purposefully or may have evolved
through trial and error. the Information Age, the trend is to define jobs, especially for knowledge workei in terms of
results and the parameters within which those results are to 1 achieved. This approach provides greater empowerment
and flexibility in how t sults are achieved.
Associated with a job are certain responsibilities, authority, accountability, ar roles. Responsibility defines the
obligation to carry out assigned tasks or to achie agreed-upon results. Whereas the tasks define the what of a job,
responsibili spells out the where, when, and how. Authority refers to the rights or power grant~ to the jobholder to
carry out assigned tasks and responsibilities. Authority m~ range from a clerk’s right to requisition office supplies to a
supervisor’s rig to hire, train, evaluate, and dismiss staff to an executive’s right to approve mul million-dollar budgets
and projects. Accountability refers to a personal liability perform a job according to predetermined standards or
requirements. Jobholde are accountable to their immediate superiors, as well as to others who are affech by their
behavior. For example, corporate attorneys are accountable not only
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of Information Technology
performing the tasks assigned by their supervisors, but for performing all work according to professional legal
standards.
A job’s role within the organization refers to how or where a job fits into the work flow, the interdependencies
among tasks and jobs, relationships with others, and the perceived status or prestige that a job has in comparison to
other jobs inside or outside the organization. For most individuals, a job provides more than a livelihood; people
identify with their jobs and derive gratification from them. The job defines a role within the business process and the
social structure; it is the point of articulation between the individual, the technology, and the organization. Thus, it is
not sufficient to talk about how information technologies affect business process. Technology affects jobs as well: the
set of tasks, the responsibility, the authority, the role in the organization, and the self-perception of the employees.
To capitalize fully on information technology, people must be motivated to do high-quality work. Motivation is
an internal psychological state, which is affected directly by the design of the job itself.
The full benefits of technology cannot be realized without the support of the people who
use the systems. A new computer system, even if it has the capacity to double output,
may yield only a slight increase in productivity if people do not understand it, fear its
impact, or see no benefit for themselves. Thus, it is important when redesigning business
processes or implementing information technology to consider job design, as well.
12.5
APPROACHES TO JOB DESIGN
Prevailing practice in many enterprises still is based on the simplification and standardization of scientifically engineered jobs. Approaches to job design that attempt to break out of this mold include
job enlargement, job rotation, job enrichment, job characteristics approaches, sociotechnical approaches, quality of
work life programs, and, most recently, empowerment of individuals and self-managed work groups. Each of these is
discussed in this section.
12.5.1
~Job Enlargement and Job Rotation
Ajob enlargement approach to job design expands jobs to include a variety of similar tasks. On a production line, this
might mean that a worker performs several assembly steps instead of just one. In an office, a typist might sort mail,
order supplies, and file documents rather than type all day.
Ajob rotation approach, on the other hand, moves workers from one job to another rather than changing the tasks
that make up the jobs. Job rotation often is used to train workers so that they are exposed to a variety of jobs. This
results in greater scheduling flexibility and back-up coverage for absent employees. Job rotation also upgrades the
skills and promotability of workers.
Job enlargement and rotation approaches expand jobs horizontally, not vertically. That is, these techniques do not
necessarily provide workers with more control over their environment. The approaches assume that workers want
more diversification in their jobs and will welcome the opportunity to do more or different kinds of tasks.
Although the techniques of job enlargement and rotation can be useful, results are mixed. Some workers
appreciate the increased variety, but others perceive
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
393
changes as just more boring tasks. New tasks may interfere with the daydreaming or chitchat in which workers engage
to cope with boring jobs. Sometimes management views job enlargement or rotation as a way of getting more work out
oi fewer workers, and workers may understand and resent this.
12.5.2
Job Enrichment
As an approach to job design, job enlargement and job enrichment are based on thE theory that employees are
motivated by factors that meet psychological needs foi achievement, self-fulfillment, recognition, responsibility,
advancement, or challenge. Whereas job enlargement approaches expand jobs horizontally, job enrich ment refers to
vertical expansion, including a planning or control task (or both) ir a job that previously included only operating tasks.
The objective is to give workers control over their jobs from beginning to end, or at least over a segment, so thai they
experience their tasks as a more meaningful whole. Job enrichment frequenth encompasses both horizontal and
vertical expansion.
Job enrichment approaches are associated closely with Herzberg’s two-fnctoi theory of motivation. Herzberg
argued that job content contributes significantly tc worker motivation and job satisfaction. He identified workers’
motivation and satisfaction by asking accountants and engineers to cite times when they felt excep tionally good or
exceptionally bad about their jobs. Factors that were the source a] good feelings he called satisfiers or motivators, and
factors that were the source a] bad feelings he called dissatisfiers. The motivators that produced the most long-lasting
positive attitudes included the following:
•
The work itself
•
Responsibility in the job
•
•
Opportunities for achievement in the job
Advancement (for a job well done)
The major dissatisfiers included the following:
•
•
Company policy and administration
Supervision
•
Salary
•
Interpersonal relations
•
Working conditions
Herzberg said that only motivators are related to the design of the job and car influence a worker’s motivation and
satisfaction directly. Dissatisfiers played onlx a hygiene role. This means that organizational efforts to improve
supervision. salaries, or working conditions can keep employees from being unhappy but could not make employees
feel positive about their work and hence make them want tc work harder. When management and unions address only
hygiene factors, they am not addressing motivation or job satisfaction. One set of factors can reinforce another but
cannot be addressed at the exclusion or expense of the other.’
12.5.3
Job Characteristics Approach
In the mid 1960s, Turner and Lawrence made a significant contribution to job design methodology. These researchers
identified six task dimensions: variety, autonomy, required social interaction,
opportunities for social interaction, required
394
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact
of Information Technology
knowledge and skill, and responsibility The dimensions are known
collectively as requisite task attributes.7
Other studies followed. The view that has had the most impact on
job-design research was suggested in 1975 by Hackman and Oldham, whose
theory and measuring instrument, the Job Descriptive Index, is derived from
earlier research, as well as from their own studies. Hackman and Oldham
identified five core job dimensions that influence motivation and
satisfaction: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and
feedbacki~
1. Skill variety is the degree to which a job includes different activities that
require a number of different skills and talents.
2. Task identity is the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole
and identifiable piece of work; that is, doing it from beginning to end
with a visible outcome. For example, it is more meaningful to an office
employee to
handle all orders, billings, and inquiries from a designated group of
customers than to type invoices all day long.
3. Task significance is the degree to which the job has substantial impact on
other people within the organization or in the world at large. Employees
who type labels for medicines and drugs are likely to perceive their jobs
as more significant than workers who type labels for file folders, even
though the skill 1ev-els may be comparable.
4. Autonomy is the degree to which the job provides freedom, independence,
and discretion to the individual in scheduling the work and in
determining the procedures. In highly autonomous jobs, the quality and
quantity of work depend on an individual’s initiative and efforts instead
of on regulations, quotas, and supervision. By building more autonomy
into jobs, large organizations can address one of their greatest
weaknesses: lack of accountability. A common example in clerical
operations is the requirement that the manager sign every document that
goes out of the department. Why not allow the individual who does the
major part of the work to sign the documents, thereby assuming
responsibility for their accuracy?
5. Job feedback is the degree to which required activities provide workers
with direct, clear information about the effectiveness of their
performance. It is
much more effective if workers obtain direct feedback than if their
supervisor evaluates results for them. As an example, clerical operations
are especially
inclined to use too many checkers (such as proofreaders) rather than
having employees verify the accuracy of their own work.
Job characteristic theory is a major underpinning for the work redesign
methods and work effectiveness model presented later in this chapter. Job
characteristics theory, however, focuses primarily on jobs that are done
independently by individuals working more or less alone. Sociotechnical
systems, discussed next, are an alternative conceptual approach that deals
specifically with properties of work systems that emphasize the use of
groups in performing work.
12.5.4
Sociotechnical (Systems) Approach
Eric Trist used the term sociotechnical system to describe his observation
that people (a social system) interacted with tools and techniques (a technical
system) by choice, not chance. These choices, he said, are dictated by
economic, technical, and human values. According to Trist, “information
technologies, especially those
apter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
concerned with PCs and digital networks, give immense
scope for solving many current problems—if the right
value choices can be madei
395
A sociotechnical approach (also referred to as
sociotechnical systems approach or just systems
approach) to job design balances the social needs of
workers with technological requirements. Technical
systems influence the characteristics of the social (or
people) system through the allocation of work roles and
the relationships among tasks that are dictated by the
technology The performance of the organization is
believed to be a function of the interface of the social and
technical systems.
Sociotechnical approaches advocate changing the
focus of work design from adapting people to technology
to adapting technology to people. The objective is to
design jobs that optimize relationships among
technology, people, and the needs of the organization.
Unlike the previous approaches, which emphasized
designing jobs for individuals, sociotechnical
approaches focus on designing tasks for work groups. By
participating in the group’s decisions, workers attain a
sense of personal worth and achievement from the group
and the relationships within it. Th€ motivational value of
these relationships is important because social needs out
weigh achievement needs for 60 percent of the
workforce. One of the major con tributions of the
sociotechnical approach to the theory and practice of
work desigr is the idea of the autonomous work group.
Autonomous, or self-managing, worl~ groups have
recently become an increasingly popular organizational
innovation They are discussed further in the section on
empowerment.
Frederick Emery expanded on the ideas of
sociotechnical systems, introducing the concept of open
systems thinking. Emery said that it is not enough to
kno’~x how the technology works. Nor is it enough to
know how people work. In an oper system, the current
situation must be understood. In other words, everything
counts. “The most useful way to understand technology
and people within a s~s tern is to understand their
relationship to the larger whole they serve.’~l1 Equi
finality, a systems concept also described in chapter 14,
says that there is more thar one best way to solve a
problem. This is a simple concept but one that markedl)
changes how management thinks about problem
solving.11
12.5.5
Quality of Work Life (QWL)
Programs
Quality of work life may be defined as the degree to
which workers can satisfy thei personal needs through
their work. Quality of work life affects the health, well
being, job satisfaction, and productivity of employees.
QWL programs emerged ii the 1970s as a means of
involving workers in problem-solving groups to make
job:
more satisfying and productive. These programs are an
effective way to implemen workplace innovations and
measure outcomes.
The QWL movement, which is based on the
sociotechnical concept of work de sign, grew out of
European experiments with semiautonomous work
teams ii manufacturing plants. In the manufacturing
sector, QWL programs were spurre by declining
productivity in the United States and increased global
competition.
QWL programs are not necessarily related to
technology, although the frame
work and methods are appropriate for implementing
technology-related war]
changes. The characteristics of QWL programs are
summarized in Figure 12-1.
A systems approach to the relationship between
information technology am quality of work life reveals a
number of patterns. Figure 12-2 shows the framewor]
used by the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment to
analyze these relationships The core relationships are
among the organization, technology, and individual. Th
arrows indicate patterns of association, not necessarily
causal relationships.
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Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact
of Information Technology
•
Achieving sustained commitment from management to an open,
nondefensivc style of operation that sincerely encourages employees to speak up regarding problems or
opportunities. (A related element is providing practical means for members of the workforce to participate in refining and
implementing promising suggestions.)
•
Establishing a work environment that encourages continuous learning,
training, and active interest regarding both the job and the product or service to which the job
contributes. (Such an environment enables an employee to use and develop personal skills and knowledge, which in turn affects
involvement, self-esteem, and the challenge obtained from the work itself.)
•
Making the job itself more challenging by structuring it so that an
individual (or work team) can self-manage and feel responsible for a significant, identifiable output if that kind of responsibility is
desired.
•
Providing opportunities for continued growth; that is, opportunities to
advance in organizational or career terms.
•
Training supervisors to function effectively in a less directive, more
collahorative style.
•
Breaking down the traditional status barriers between management and
production or support personnel. Achieving an atmosphere of open communication and trust between management and the
workforce.
•
Providing not only feedback about results achieved and recognition for
good results but also financial incentives, such as shared cost savings, where feasible.
•
Selecting personnel who can be motivated, under appropriate conditions,
to genuinely care about striving for excellence in task performance.
•
Evaluating and analyzing results, including failures, leading to revised efforts toward improvement.
Figure 12-1
Characteristics of OWL programs
Source: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, TheAutomation of Americas Oft ices (Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1985), p. 12.
12.5.6
Empowerment
The concept of empowerment emerged during the 1980s. The objective of empowerment is to push responsibility
down the organizational hierarchy to the level where the work is done. The basic philosophy is that within their scope
of authority,
Figure 12-2
Office characteristics that contribute to an individual’s quality of work life
Source: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, The Automation of America Offices (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1985), P. 126.
12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
397
workers should be empowered to make the decisions
necessary to accomplish thei assigned tasks effectively.
In practice, it puts the responsibility on the employee t
identify impediments to getting tasks done and to take
action to work with other to resolve those issues. Jt also
allows employees to seek and implement ideas fo
improving the way work is done.
Unfortunately, the concept of empowerment is used
and misunderstood witl great frequency. Many
enterprises have failed to implement it effectively
becaus’ it flies in the face of a deeply entrenched
command-and-control management ap proach. Much of
the misunderstanding derives from differences in
interpretatiol of its root word: power. Power in the
classical sense has to do with the ability to im pose a
position on others or on the circumstances. Position
power carries with i the authority (as described earlier) to
commit resources, hire and fire workers, an make other
decisions. When individuals or teams are told that they
are empow ered, they often respond from this classical
interpretation of power. They want t know: How much
budget do we have? What is our signature authority? Can
w’ require or direct others about what to do? This
interpretation is not what is mean by empowerment; it is
delegation of formal authority in the classical sense.
Empowerment relates to a broader concept of power
as the ability to influenc others and cause them, or
persuade them, to make decisions, select courses of ac
tion, or change behaviors. It has to do with credibility
and fact-based decision mak ing. Empowerment defined
in this context creates a high degree of freedom 0 action,
latitude to take risks, and opportunities to be innovative
within the agreed upon performance objectives, project
results, or mission. Empowerment applies ti the design of
individual jobs and to self-managing work groups.
Self-managing work groups may be defined as
“intact (if small) social system whose members have the
authority to handle internal processes as they see fit ii
order to generate a specific group product, service, or
decision.”12 These group also may be referred to as
autonomous or self-regulating work groups. Seli
managing work groups include temporary task forces set
up to solve specific prob lems; permanent and
cross-functional teams, such as decision-making
committee and many kinds of management teams; and
permanent production teams.
Self-managing work groups can be differentiated
from more common types o coacting groups by three
main characteristics. People in coacting groups may rc
port to the same supervisor and work closely with one
another, but they have ir dividually defined tasks. Even
when coacting groups have to coordinate thei
I II
work closely, individuals are considered the basic
performing unit of the organ zation. The three characteristics that distinguish self—managing groups
13
They are real groups. The group, even if small or
temporary, must constitute an identifiable social
system that is recognized as a group by members and
nonmembers. At a minimum, its members must have
differentiated roles will interdependent relationships.
• They are work groups. The group must have a
significant piece of work to d that results in a product,
service, or decision that is measurable or tangible. II
group does not generate productive output, it is not
considered a work groul
•
•
I, .
ill
They are self-managing groups. Group members must
have the authority to manage the work and
interpersonal processes required to carry out their tasl
If management retains control over who does what
and when it gets done, then a group is self-managed
only in name.
The conditions required for high team effectiveness are
different from tin
needed for optimal individual work effectiveness. For
individuals, the empha
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Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of
Information Technology
is on the person-job relationship, whereas for groups, analysts must
consider person-job, person-group, and group-job relationships, as
well as interrelationships among these components. ~ Thus,
designing work for grotips never should be viewed as merely
creating a team version of a good individual job design. One of the
most important choices to be made in structuring a work system is
the choice between individual and group designs.
In his book about BPR, Harold S. Resnick talks about the
concept of shared responsibility.15 In a traditional context,
responsibilities are largely an individual matter. When individuals
are assigned a responsibility, they are personally accountable for
generating the results expected for the defined area. Typically, responsibilities are defined, measurable, tied to accountability, and
form the basis for recognition and reward systems.
From a business process perspective, however, few tasks are
accomplished individually. Business processes generally span
multiple individtials and groups. The traditional view of individual
responsibility tends to work reasonably well when work is going
well. The tendency, however, is for individuals to optimize their own
performance and to protect their personal areas of responsibility, assigning the blame or fault to others when problems arise. No one
seems to own the entire scope of the work.
As enterprises transition to a process orientation and recognize
the interdependence of work and the necessity for teams to work
together, individtial responsibility paradoxically becomes a
limitation, as well as an asset. The concept of shared responsibility is
intended to build full team interdependence and collective effort.
Individuals have a shared responsibility for the success of the entire
enterprise, process, team, or work product of which they are a part.
This means that the failure of any individual member of the team
represents the failure of the entire team. Resnick indicates that shared
responsibility often creates initial anxiety and concerns. Each
individual now realizes that the performance of others directly
affects personal performance. When fully developed in a team
environment, he hastens to add, shared responsibility is not only
comfortable for all the team members, it is essential to the creation of
high performance teams. Resnick cautions, however, that in order to
implement the concept, the reward and recognition systems of the
organization must be brought into alignment. Shared responsibilities
require team-based reward and recognition systems in addition to
individual-based performance systems. (See the Bailey and Bailey
Spotlight in chapter 4.) It also leads to the demand for some
risk-based compensation systems.
12.5.7 Perspectives on Job Design Approaches
Declining U.S. productivity in the late 1970s focused attention on the
success of Japanese participative management. In his best-selling
book ThL’ortI Z, William Ouchi challenged the traditional American
premise that specialization increases productivity. Ouchi compared
the productivity of U.S. firms practicing American-style scientific
management to the productivity of U.S. firms practicing
Japanese-style participative management. His findings demonstrated
that Japanese-style management, with a low degree of specialization,
achieved higher productivity than American-style management with
a high degree of specialization. Moreover, Japanese management led
to higher-quality output. According to Ouchi, American managers
believe that quality is achieved through testing and control. Japanese
managers, on the other hand, believe that quality comes from
inviting workers to refine product design and manufacturing
processes continually. Ouchi
hapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
3
9
9
concluded that Japanese-style management was more
effective than Amen style management.
Futurist Alvin Toffler terms the current
environment the Information Ag the third wave, with
agricultural and industrial waves preceding it. In
Prodw Workplaces, Marvin Weisbord marries open
sociotechnical (systems) thinkin team effectiveness
and labels the result third zvave nianaging/consulting.
He m tains that in the Information Age, teamwork is
essential to system success. Jr view, this means that
everyone needs to be involved with improving the
whole tern. Weisbord (Figure 12-3) shows the
evolution of scientific management (‘ lorism), to
participative management (group problem solving), to
syst. thinking, to third wave managing/consulting.
Weisbord suggests three powerful levers that can
be used to turn workp anxiety into energy: purposes,
relationships, and structures. Purposes (missic are the
business that the company is in—the future on which
everyone’s wod curity and meaning are attached.
Relationships are connections with cowor] that
contribute to feeling whole. Relationships require
cooperation across line hierarchy, function, class, race,
and gender. Structure refers to who gets to dow
Structure affects self-esteem, dignity, and learning.”
Third wave managing consulting levers are those
practices that support the business purpose, allow
relationship building, identify roles, and assure
individual accountability.
Despite decades of experience with alternative
techniques, command-i
cant rol management still prevails in most American
enterprises. It is a major prer
of this text, however, that enterprises that cling to
these industrial era managen
Figure 12-3
A brief history of management practices
Source: Weisbord, Marvin. Producti,,e Workplaces. (San
Francisco, Jossey-Bass/Joliri Wiley & Sons, 1988), 254.
400
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact
of Information Technology
practices will be at a distinct competitive disadvantage in the
Information Age. Enterprises cannot achieve significant benefit from
EUIS technologies unless they are prepared to change the way work
is done. Effective EUIS implementation requires that workers are
involved in setting goals and standards, solving problems, and
making decisions related to their work. In other words, EUIS
technologies are driving job redesign efforts.
The concepts described in this section underlie much of the
practice of job design and organizational change. Job characteristics
and sociotechnical theories are the basis for intervention strategies
used by enterprises to move from authoritarian forms of management
to participative, or empowerment, styles. The following section
offers more specifics on the impact of information technology on
business process and job design.
12.6
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS PROCESS.
AND JOB DESIGN
The impact of technology on business processes and jobs goes
beyond changes in tasks. IT changes jobs in several ways. The key
point is that the best results with IT are achieved when these factors
are considered as part of the project rather than being addressed at
the end as an afterthought.
1. Procedures for completing tasks may change. When tasks are
taken over by an automated system, jobs (or portions of jobs)
may be eliminated. Workers
must be retrained to do the new jobs, reassigned, or let go.
2. When jobs are modified due to the addition or deletion of tasks,
boundaries between jobs may change as tasks are transferred
from one job to another.
Sometimes, but not always, these changes are accompanied by
changes in job
titles, descriptions, or compensation.
3. Automation creates new tasks that are required to support the
system or that are related to new products or services. Existing
jobs may be redesigned to
incorporate these new tasks, or new jobs may be created. For
example, a position of administrator may be created to operate a
newly installed local area network, assign passwords, perform
daily backup, troubleshoot problems, and so forth.
4. Technology may lead to the creation of new tasks not
previously possible,
practical, or cost effective. New capabilities may create
opportunities for new
products or services—a positive impact of technology.
To understand the effects of technology on jobs, business
process, and organizational structure, consider the following four
results related to the introduction of PCs with word processing and
spreadsheet software in the office of a manager and secretary.
First, the way some tasks are accomplished may change; new
skills will be needed and old ones eliminated. If the manager decides
to use the PC to author documents, creating them will require
different skills than writing them in longhand did. Previously
important skills, such as the manager’s dictation and the secretary’s
shorthand and transcription skills, may be used only rarely.
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
Second, the process that governs the interactions of
author, secretary, and ot~ people to produce documents
may change. The secretary now may do only the nal
formatting and printing of documents. Documents that
are filed electronica are no longer sent to records
management or physically filed in one department these
PCs are connected to a network, the potential for change
is extended signi cantly. For example, if the manager
uses e-mail for intercompany corresponden the secretary
and mail services may be left out of the process entirely.
Moreov e-mail gives many people in the enterprise
direct access they never had before. I manager also has
more direct information about what is going on in the
enterpri~ The power structure, in essence, is being
changed—and therein is often the sour of resistance.
At some points, technology allows for choice rather
than mandating chan~ For example, a PC may be given
just to the secretary. The manager still might co tinue to
dictate documents that the secretary will transcribe and
edit using wo processing software. In this case, the
computer becomes a substitute for the typ writer. The
relationship between manager and secretary, and the
flow of war might change minimally with only the
secretary needing new skills. Another ternative is to
sever the relationship completely; the secretary might be
reclassifiE as an administrative assistant. All managers
schedule their own meetings and COfl pose
correspondence with the aid of word processing,
electronic mail, and Ca]eI
daring software. One administrative assistant can support an entire department Third, new technology
may introduce new steps and new tasks. For exampl
use of a PC introduces the need to make backup copies, to design and use an ele tronic filing system, and to manage
disk space or diskette storage. New technolog also introduces the need for training. Decisions about these
tasks—whether thE will be handled by all users, by secretaries, by a systems administrator, or by soir
combination—will affect the work process.
Fourth, the availability of the technology will enable the manager and sec~ tary to do new tasks that were not
practical before. For example, if the secretal converts the old card file of clients to a PC database, it becomes practical
to sen personalized letters to hundreds of clients using the merge printing feature of war processing. The manager,
4
using a spreadsheet, forecasts sales under different ecc nomic scenarios and tracks them against actual results.
Thus, with even this simple example one can see how changes at the level the task, job, business process, and
organizational structure cottld take place as result of new technology. 17
12.6.1
Computer-Mediated Work
Two characteristics of computer work are that the machine makes work mon abstract and that the machine alters the
worker’s relationship to the task. The ne~ relationship sometimes is referred to as computer niedia ted, which means
thataper son accomplishes a task through the information system rather than through dired contact with objects.18
Workers experience tasks as more concrete when the tasks involve manipui~ tion of objects, as in pottery making
or carpentry. Manipulation itself is a form
feedback; the object feels right. Machines remove workers as a direct
source of
Iii
ergy, but workers still have contact with the objects of their labor. With
compute
however, workers get only indirect feedback through the symbols on the scr
“Very often, from the point of view of the worker, the object of the task seems have disappeared ‘behind the screen’
and into the information system.” ~
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Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact
of Information Technology
Thus, computers have made information processing more
abstract. From the perspective of the knowledge worker, when
information is in physical forms that can be touched and
manipulated—such as cards, letters, reports, and invoices—it
appears to be more concrete. When information is processed on the
computer, however, many of these objects disappear. The
knowledge worker is confronted with intangible information, which
is manipulated in invisible ways inside the computer.
12.6.1.1
Coping with Computer Logic
The computer easily handles quantitative data, but qualitative
judgments are difficult to program. Consequently, when computer
systems are designed, qualitative aspects are either quantified or
lost. A programmer defines correctness of data in terms of formal
computer logic. Frequently, formal correctness can become more
important than the relevance of the information. Judgment is
replaced by computer logic, and errors become difficult to detect
and correct.
Computers have become easier to use, but they still require
codes and procedural commands. Although today’s graphical user
interfaces (GUTs) have made using computers much more intuitive,
it is difficult for most people to learn to think in a way that parallels
computer logic. It requires thinking and performing steps in the
precise order dictated by the logical sequence built into the software.
The difference between how most people go about finding
information in a file folder or reference book in contrast to a
computer database illustrates the point. When physically searching
for information, most people rely on intuitive aids. They recall that it
was in a red volume, it was near the back, the page was torn, or it was
on the second shelf. If searchers recall terminology inaccurately or
misspell a term, they probably will find what they are looking for
anyway. These memory aids are not available in computer databases;
only names are used, and they are defined precisely by computer
logic. Searchers must use the right key words in the right relationship,
or the results will be faulty GUTs have reduced these problems
somewhat. New technologies such as intelligent agents (for example,
Microsoft’s “Mr. Paper Clip” in MSWord), Web bots that assist with
self-service, and other artificial language techniques such as nattiral
language interfaces hold additional promise.
One consequence of computer-mediated work is that it becomes
more difficult
to exercise judgment over it. This is true for both routine clerical jobs
and complex
knowledge work. The comments of a bank auditor illustrate this
point.
The job of auditing is very different now. More imagination is
required. I am receiving data online. I don’t go to the branches if
I don’t want to. I
don’t see any books. What do I audit in this situation? I always
have to be thinking about what is in the system. I may be
auditing, but it doesn’t feel like it.20
The computer also has introduced new complexity in data. The
auditor can compare branches according to selected criteria and
search out new relationships in the data. To do this, however, the
auditor must develop a theory of the auditing process. A conceptual
framework is needed to guide the auditor through the mass of
available information. Theoretical insight and imagination are the
new keys to effectiveness. By creating a medium where imagination
is more important than experience-based judgment, information
technology challenges old procedures. In this auditing process, for
example, planners are not automating the old, but inventing the new.
Consequently, the traditional training of auditors—and others—
must shift to provide a stronger theoretical or conceptual foundation.
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
12.6.1.2
4
Worker Frustration
Another consequence of computer-mediated work is that it can induce feelings of frustration and loss of control.
“Computer mediation of simple jobs can create tasks that are routine and unchallenging, while demanding focused
attention and abstract comprehension.”2’ People who are action oriented, rather than abstract thinkers, may find
computer-mediated work frustrating and stressful. Those who shift from conventional procedures to
computer-mediated work feel this stress most acutely. It is impossible, however, to forecast how people will adapt to
the abstraction of work over the long term.
12.6.1.3
Altered Social Structure
Computer-mediated work alters the social structure of an organization. The workstation itself can become the
individual’s primary focus of interaction. “This focus can lead people to feel isolated in an impersonal situation.”” The
importance of communities in the workplace has been widely recognized. Jobs that isolate people at computer
workstations can lead to social problems.
12.6.2
De-Skilling
Jobs
Versus
Enhancing
Perceptions differ over whether technology is de-skilling or enhancing office jobs. The term de-skil?ing means “using
the computer to direct, control, and pace work so that the required level of skill is reduced and knowledge, judgment,
and decision making are minimized.” The term enhancing means “expanding the scope and level of responsibility by
using technology to reduce routine, repetitive tasks and provide access to information and resources.
Many organizations that process large amounts of standardized data have elected to use technology to de-skill
tasks, enabling lower-paid employees with minimum skills to process more data in a given amount of time. Sorting
rules, decision trees, and analytical processes also can be built into computer processes and software packages as a
means to de-skill professional tasks. This approach can create factory—like offices, which often reduce job interest
and satisfaction and increase stress. Many of these jobs have been shifted offshore or overseas to third world countries
because American workers are no longer willing to work under these conditions.
On the other hand, technology can enhance jobs by relieving people of routine, repetitive tasks. Simple tasks can
be integrated into fewer, broader jobs so that
worker has a better sense of the purpose and outcome of the work. Information systems also can give a worker access
to knowledge that previously could be obtained only through advanced education. This allows a clerical worker to take
over interesting tasks that previously were considered the work of the professional. For example, clerks can use
computerized databases to search for information that formerly only a lawyer, doctor, scientist, or Ph.D. in
archaeology would have known about. Some organizations are using information technology deliberately to upgrade
and enhance work at all levels. Flatter organizational structures andreduced costs of management may result.
In The Age of the Smart Machine, Harvard Business School professor Shoshafla Zuboff differentiated between
“automating” and “infomating” jobs. Zuboff explained that in jobs that are automated,
the human body is replaced with a tech nology that allows the same processes to be
performed with more continuity and control. In jobs that have been infomated, however,
technology generates information about the underlying productive and administrative
process through
404
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of
Information Technology
an organization accomplishes its work.’3 Whether the introduction of
information technologies results in work that has been automated or
infomated rests, in part, upon appropriate job design.
12.6.3 Changes in Organizational Structure and
Communications
When the work process changes, the organizational structure, which
defines the relationships among jobs, also can change. Changes may
result in revisions in the formal organization chart or simply may alter
communication patterns or power relationships among groups or
departments. Changes in organizational structure may take place
immediately as part of the planned system changes, or may evolve
over time as the enterprise gains familiarity with the technology and
its capabilities.
Many changes in organizational structure and communication
patterns can be attributed to technology. For instance, adoption of a
centralized computer system created a tendency for enterprises to
centralize control. On the other hand, the acquisition of PCs at the
departmental level has led to decentralization of decision making.
End-user computing has put new power in the hands of local
departments because one source of power is information. E-mail has
opened new avenues of communication that bypass former
information gatekeepers. The Internet has significantly expanded the
impact, providing wide availability of extensive information to
which access previously was fairly limited. Senior managers have
immediate, direct access to data formerly filtered to them in
summary reports. Knowledge workers literally have the Library of
Congress at their fingertips. Information can be consolidated in
centralized databases and knowledge management systems while
access and processing can be decentralized any place in the country
or the world.
Observers have noted interesting changes in the boundaries
between clerical and professional and between clerical and
managerial positions. Some researchers have referred to this
redistribution of labor as the clericalization of professional work and
the professionalization of clerical work.’4 The most prominent trend
is the shift of keyboarding tasks when professionals and managers
acquire PCs. Individuals who would never have typed in the past
now use word processing to author documents and send e-mail, and
the time that clerical workers used to spend keyboarding original
documents subsequently decreases. Sometimes secretaries are
bypassed completely, or their involvement may be limited to revising,
formatting, and printing. All of these effects of information
technology are not inevitable. Changes in functions and shifts in
power can be attributed as much to the characteristics of the
organization and its management strategy as to the characteristics of
the technology.
12.6.4 Technology as an Enabler for Job and
Work Group Design
Efforts to improve organizational performance through the application of information technology must not overlook
the key role of people in making technology pay off. According to a special report on the response of management to
the human factors of automation:
American managers are finally learning what the Japanese discovered
years ago: The solution to fading competitive ability, sluggish productivity growth, and poor quality cannot be found
in the mythical black box
Chapter 12 Business Process and .Job (Re)Design
of a miraculous technology. To realize the full
potential of automation, leading-edge companies are
integrating workers and technology in
sociotechnical systems that revolutionize the way
work is organized and managed.... This is an
immensely important trend, one that is producing a
new model of job design and work relations that will
shape the
workplace well into the twenty-first century.’5
Because analysts seldom addressed job design issues,
most early systems were implemented in ways that
maintained old, functional lines of organization, often
compounding weaknesses. Anticipated productivity
improvements never were realized because technology
created new bottlenecks in the old work flows. In some of
the worst cases, disgruntled workers resisted the
technology or failed to use it effectively because of
inadequate training. Today, progressive enterprises are
applying the concepts of BPR, turning technological
changes into opportunities to rethink old forms of work
organization in light of current and future objectives.
Technology can be a catalyst for restructuring on both
individual and work group levels in addition to an
enterprise level. Decision makers should determine which
level is most appropriate prior to embarking on redesign
projects. Even EUIS projects that are small in scope
should offer opportunities to rethink the way work is
organized.
Instead of attempting to optimize each task and
function separately, analysts
can use electronic integration to optimize a whole
procedure. For example, they
might focus on improving customer service or marketing.
Electronic integration is
possible because the technology allows the integration of information from many sources and the
distribution of information to many locations. Electronic
integration can be used to design jobs that give workers a
variety of tasks and, at the
same time, allow them to understand how the job contributes to the department or enterprise. This gives
workers greater autonomy and responsibility, and it contributes to job satisfaction and productivity.
For example, an international letter of credit at one
bank required 23 steps, performed by 14 workers, and
generated forms and copies stored in several locations.
When customers called, they had a difficult time finding
the worker with the right information to answer their
questions. Moreover, if the customer wanted to change
something, the process had to start again. The bank revised
the process so that one worker, with the aid of a PC and a
client database, now performs all the necessary steps in
processing letters of credit for a particular set of clients.
The database contains all information related to the
accounts. The service worker is the single contact between
the customer and the bank for corrections or inquiries.
Thus, a task that previously took 14 people more than 3
days now IS completed by one person in a single day with
the aid of powerful information systems.
The capabilities of an integrated client service system
at a major insurance company (Figure 12-4) provide
another example. With PCs on their desks, client service
representatives have word processing, spreadsheet, and
administrative systems at their fingertips. In addition, they
have direct access to the company’s database of
policyholder information. They can answer telephone
inquiries, send written replies, check policyholder
information (such as loan balances or current cash value of
policies), make policy changes (such as address or
beneficiary changes), issue special statements, and much
more. Most importantly, electronic integration has
changed the focus of the job from processing
406
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of
Information Technology
Figure 12-4
An integrated client service system at a major insurance company
SOUrCe: Courtesy
of Roy W. Walters and Associates, Inc.
paperwork to serving clients, or, in other words, from efficient
paperwork to effective client service.
Electronic integration also can be used to design work groups.
Some insurance companies have restructured work groups that
formerly were organized by function into self-managed teams that
service a specific market. For example, one company combined the
expertise of raters, underwriters, and clerical workers on a single
team and assigned them responsibility for specific product lines.
Organizing workers in teams, rather than isolating them in
functional groups, allows greater understanding of the production
process and empowers workers to remove impediments and make
changes required to improve results.
When designing solutions, analysts should remember that job
design influences productivity more than technology does. Without
a well-thought-out design, chances are that new systems will
reinforce functional organization rather than invent integrated ones.
In fact, analysts often strive to tailor new technology to the existing
organization to avoid disrupting the work environment. When job
design is overlooked, however, important opportunities to make
technology pay off may be missed.
hapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
1 2.7
THE REDESIGN OF JOBS
When people find their jobs motivating, they feel
good about themselves ai work they do. They do
not have to be cajoled or forced to perform their
worb strive to do their jobs well because they find
good performance rewardin satisfying. They are
excited about their work rather than motivated
solely I ternal (hygiene) factors such as
compliments from the boss or a paycheck.
In Work Redesign, Hackman and Oldham
describe a methodology for d ing jobs that people
are motivated to perform effectively and find
rewardin satisfying. Their approach is based on a
combination of behavioral and technical systems
that emphasizes the importance of individual
differences a need to analyze the requirements of
each organization. They focus on the work that
people perform, and they emphasize important
distinctions betwe signing work for individuals and
designing work for groups.
12.7.1
Characteristics
Motivating Jobs
of
Hackman and Oldham suggest that jobs that people
find motivating have characteristics:
• Workers experience their work as meaningful.
• Workers have responsibility for the results of
their work.
• Workers have knowledge of the actual results of
their work.27
Other
measures
that
relate
to
job
design—although they are not, strictly
ing, characteristics of the job—include the
following:
• Growth satisfaction, or the degree to which the
employee believes the job vides opportunities
for personal growth and development.
• Growth need, or the strength of the employee’s
desire for growth and pet development.
These characteristics of motivating jobs relate
directly to the five core job acteristics described
previously under “Job Characteristics Approach.”
As trated in the work effectiveness model in Figure
12-5, the absence or preset the five core job
dimensions directly affect the extent to which
workers expe the critical psychological states that
are characteristic of motivating jobs. In words,
these characteristics lead to high internal
motivation. Skill variety identity, and task
significance
contribute
to
experienced
meaningfulness work. Autonomy contributes to
experienced responsibility, and feedback fro job
contributes to knowledge of results. Growth
satisfaction and growth nee sired personal and work
outcomes) indicate how an employee will respond
h with high motivating potential. The next section
discusses implementing con or strategies, for
designing jobs that encompass the five core job
characterist
12.7.2
Designing
Individuals
Jobs
for
When redesigning jobs for individuals, analysts
should focus on job dimer
that encourage employees to work hard and
II
perform well because they w~
rather than out of fear or in response to close
supervision. Hackman and Ol~
recommend the following five strategies for
redesigning work. As illustrat
408
Part IV Workplace Performance: The
Impact of Information TechnoIo~
Figure 12-5
The work effectiveness model
Source~ Courtesy of Roy W. Walters and Associates, Inc.
Figure 12-5, each of these strategies directly addresses one or
more of the five core
job dimensions:25
1. Task combination. Task combination puts fragmented job
tasks into new job modules, combining all the tasks required
for a given piece of work. Information systems can reduce many
repetitive tasks, making combination more practical than it
was with manual systems. A complete job module increases
skill variety and task identity and generates challenge and
responsibility for the worker. At times, task combination
may be constrained for organizational or technical reasons.
For example, enterprises may want to keep internal auditing
separate from other processing.
2. Forming natural work units. Forming natural work units, in
conjttnction with task combination, provides further
opportunities for task identity and significance. A natural
work unit refers to grouping tasks in a logical or inherently
meaningful way Natural work units are organized according
to groups of customers, types of transactions, geographical
distribution, or any other arrangement that makes good sense
to those performing the work. For example, a customer
service representative might handle all contact with clients in
the Chicago area rather than handling work randomly as it
comes into the department.
3. Establishing client relationships. When natural work units
are formed around specific groups of clients, it may be possible to
put the employee
in direct contact with the clients and give them continuing
responsibility for
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
managing relationships with them. Clients may
be customers of a firm, oI individuals or
departments within an enterprise, or other publics of
the e terprise. An effective client relationship provides
direct contact between client and employee,
clearly establishes criteria for evaluating the
quality
the product or service, and provides a regular channel
for relaying feedb~
I
directly
to the worker.
Enabling employees to establish direct relationships with clients can i prove jobs in three core dimensions. Feedback increases
when workers g€ direct praise or criticism from persons who receive the work. Skill variety
creases because establishing client relationships requires interpersonal sk in addition to task-specific skills. Autonomy also
increases because indivi
als have personal responsibility for managing their relationships with cut
4. Vertically loading jobs. Vertical loading pushes down responsibility and authority formerly assigned at a higher level, thus
giving employees more C(
trol over their jobs. Vertical loading can be accomplished in many ways. Controls can be removed to give employees more
discretion in planning, scheduling, and checking their work. The job can be broadened by adding more difficult tasks. Workers
might consult with others in the organizatio rather than immediately calling the supervisor, give technical advice, auff their own
reports, interview job candidates, or perform other appropriate tasks. Jobs also can be vertically loaded by granting new authority,
suchdiscretion
a~
to set one’s own goals to accomplish a specific short-term objecl
5. Establishing feedback channels. Feedback channels should give workers dire immediate, and regular information
about how well they are performing
their jobs. It is generally more effective for employees to learn about their formance directly, by doing the job, than to
rely on a supervisor as their m source of feedback. Direct job feedback is usually more immediate and pri vate, and it
increases the employee’s sense of control over the job. In most stances, establishing feedback channels involves
removing barriers or blo that insulate employees from information about their performance. Establ ing direct client
relationships (discussed previously) is one of the most effi tive feedback channels. Other examples include returning
documents to tl same word processing operator for revisions and corrections rather than tc random individuals or
moving quality control close to the workers.
Although the implementing concepts are mutually reinforcing, each can separate action strategy. Other possibilities also
exist for redesigning jobs. The areas outlined by Hackman and Oldham, however, address some of the most c mon
problems associated with job design. They are intended as guidelines for erating ideas about how jobs might be improved
rather than as hard and fast n In order to work, these principles must be implemented in a supportive organ tion. Work redesign
efforts must have the support of all stakeholders or
tended results will be diminished, if not thwarted.
12.7.3
Designing Self-Managing Work
Groups
Although the same principles apply designing work for work groups is n complex than designing work for individuals. In
addition to the five core job c] acteristics, two additional characteristics must be addressed: task-required in dependence
and opportunities for social interaction.
Designing work for work groups requires addressing issues of motivating dividuals and group dynamics, as well. The
focus is on the overall task of the gr
410
IV Workplace Performance:
Impact of Information Technology
Part
The
SPOTLIGHT ON SOLUTIONS Technology, People, Structure, Processes
—~
MANAGING CHANGE: HIGH TOUCH ESSENTIAL are both likely to improve the
prospects for IS success. TO HIGH TECH SUCCESS With the recent evolution towards end-user
computing Do human resource specialists have a role in informa- and the propensity for downsized and
outsourced IS, tion systems (IS) implementation? Recent studies mdi- the dynamics of the partnerships
between management cate that they should. and technical specialists have changed. Much of the reDespite remarkable advances in information tech- sponsibility for IS has been passed on to line
managers nology (IT), many computer-based IS still fall short of and user groups. They are now using IT
as a resource in performance expectations. A growing share of these im- their business activities. This
transfer of IT management plementation failures are due to nontechnical factors, responsibilities raises
both the ability and duty of asThe role of IT in industry and commerce has rapidly sorted specialists to contribute during
the IS adoption risen during the past half century. IT now represents process. As IT usage increases, and
the disparities in about half of all capital investment on a global basis computing skill levels grow, the
need for end-user sup-while much of the workforce in the developed world re- port will increase.
lies on telecommunications and computer-based IS. UnThe rigid linear approach to IS
development, fortunately, IS success can be elusive. An effective IS will whereby implementation
follows design, has been supimprove performance, but IT applications that are planted by greater
iteration. As a result, early and suspoorly planned, developed, or implemented can retard tamed user
participation should be encouraged, but individual and/or group performance. Many organiza- specialist
support, from both technical and human factions have become internally stressed or competitively tors
experts, can also contribute to IS success. Time and disadvantaged after deploying a major new IS.
resource constraints may preclude an ideal IS outcome.
Ills of little benefit by itself. Technology is certainly However, it is important that stakeholders with
con-introduced to foster economic efficiencies, but if it is not flicting interests and perspectives as well as
differential also designed to increase human resource effectiveness, levels of political power have the
opportunity to particiit will be a disaster. IT can help people to do a better job, pate in the IS adoption
process. The geographic reach but only if they are willing to use the technology and if of modem IT
applications can make it difficult to in-they become effective users. Unfortunately, many IT ap- volve all
end-users and appropriate specialists. Faceplications are misused, underutilized, or abandoned, to-face
participation may be infeasible, but advances in Even a good technical system may be sabotaged if it is
telecommunications do favor the use of electronic perceived to interfere with an established social netmeetings to discuss both technical and human factor work. Thus, a good understanding of the intended
end- issues and achieve a consensus on how they will be users, their tasks, and the interdependencies
between addressed. Goals can be identified for both the IS and the two is a likely prerequisite for IS
success. the associated change program. These goals will help
The unique characteristics of each organization to guide the development and implementation effort.
must be considered when determining whether, where, The satisfaction of users, the perceived quality of
inforand to what extent IT should be applied. After a decision mation outputs, and key dimensions of
organizational is made to develop a specific IT application, the issue of performance, such as
productivity, may be used to how to effectively implement the resulting IS must be measure IS success.
addressed. The operating performance of an IS will be
One solution, according to recent
studies, is a proacimpaired if it does not fit with the needs and expecta- tive level of HR involvement
during the IS adoption tions of intended users, the natural patterns of work and process. By acting as
agents of change, HR specialists can communication, and the goals of relevant business help both end
users and IT specialists adjust to their new processes. Elegant technical solutions are of little value roles.
User satisfaction can be promoted by creating an IS unless they can be effectively implemented where
they that supports rather than disrupts effective work and
•
are needed. This inevitably involves the resolution of ~c- communication patterns, and explaining how
the new cial and organizational issues. Thus, clear allocations of system is to benefit individual users and the
organization.
responsibility and the inclusion of appropriate expertise
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
SPOTLIGHT ON SOLUTIONS —* Technology, People, Structure, Processes
(continued)
HR specialists can help to match the technology to the should not be considered only in
terms of money, tech-users, plan for the associated organization change, and nology, and
business processes, but also in terms of how deliver programs to smooth the transition process.
they affect attitudes and behaviors. The effective manage-They have traditionally been slow to
introduce or effec- ment of human resources is critical if the potential benetively use information
technology and their involve- fits from an IT investment are to be realized. Business ment in IS
adoption processes across the organization improvements ultimately depend on people working
has also remained modest. However, a change in this smarter and more effectively. Those with
human factors situation appears to be justified because of the posi- expertise can enhance both
their own stature and imtive link studies have found between HR specialist prove key
dimensions of organizational performance by involvement and IS outcomes. Information
systems contributing to the IS adoption process.
Source: Mans G. Martinsons and Patrick K.C. Chong, “The Influence of Human Factors and
Specialist Involvement on Information Systems Success,” Human Relations 52 (January 1999):
123(3).
rather than on tasks of members. Up to this point, the discussion has centered on redesigning work for individuals.
12.7.3.1
Criteria for Group Effectiveness
Effectiveness means doing the right things. A group is effective when it does right things and efficient if it does them right.
When designing systems and work to take advantage of new information technology, the analyst and organization development
specialist need to understand what makes a group effective. tems and job design should support group effectiveness, as well as
efficiency The three criteria of group effectiveness identified by Hackman and Oldham iiv dude the following: 29
1. The work of the group meets or exceeds organizational standards of quantity
and quality. If the work of the group is not acceptable to those who receive
and use it (e.g., reports are inaccurate or untimely), the group cannot be considered effective.
2. The group experience contributes to meeting the personal needs of members. Sometimes groups develop patterns of
interpersonal behavior that are
destructive to the well-being of members. If most members find that their experiences in the group frustrate their needs and block
them from achieving personal goals, it would be hard to argue that the group is a successful
social unit.
3.
The social process in carrying out the work maintains or
enhances the capability of members to work together on subsequent tasks. Some groups operate in ways that destroy their integrity;
that is, the group burns out in the process of performing the task. Even if the product is acceptable, a group cam not be considered
successful if it generates so much divisiveness and conflict that members are unwilling or unable to work together on future
occasions.
Hackman and Oldham also identified three intermediate criteria of effectiveness:3~~
1.
The level of effort that group members bring to bear on the
task.
2.
The amount of knowledge and skill that group members
apply to the task.
3.
The appropriateness of the task performance strategies used by the group 111 doing its work.
412
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of
Information Technology
12.7.3.2
Composition of Work Groups
An additional consideration in designing work for groups is the composition of the group. Hackman and Oldham
recommended the following characteristics for a work group: 31
1. The group should include members who have high levels of task-relevant expertise.
2.
The group should be large enough to do the work but not much
larger.
3. Group members should have at least a moderate level of interpersonal skills in addition to their task-relevant skills.
4. The group membership should strike a balance between homogeneity and heterogeneity.
Implementing and managing work groups is far more complex than designing jobs for individuals. The tasks of
self-managing work groups generally have a much greater impact than individual jobs do on the organizational
structure and management climate. Supporting and sustaining work groups without the commitment of top
management is highly improbable. Some tasks are so large or complex, however, that they can be accomplished only by
groups. Nevertheless, if given a choice, the systems analyst should use individual rather than group strategies unless the
latter are significantly superior and the management climate is highly supportive.
12.7.4
Analyzing Opportunities for Work
Redesign
Before undertaking any job design or redesign project, the analyst must assess the situation and ask such questions as
the following.
•
•
Is there a need or opportunity for job design?
Is job redesign feasible for the unit?
• Which aspects of the job can benefit from improvement and which are fine as they are?
• How receptive will employees be to change, and how will changes fit with their needs and skills?
•
How will changes fit with the rest of the organization?
•
What opportunities for innovation are offered by the new
technology?
How should the affected employees be involved in the process?
•
•
Are individual job redesign strategies appropriate, or is the task large or complex enough to require group
strategies?
Resources, tools, and methods that analysts can use to answer these questions inc~lu~e consu”i~an>~s,
organiza~Viona’1 mission s’Va~temen’ts, vQorY?’1ov~ nm~lysis, c~oseTvations and interviews, survey instruments,
and physical layout. When jobs are designed in conjunction with technological change, it is also important to keep in
mind that innovations that are not initially apparent may emerge as workers gain experience with the technology.
12.7.4.1
Consultants
Consultants and organizational development specialists can be an excellent resource for the EUIS analyst. Consultants
can offer objectivity, an outside perspective, and methods and assessment tools for
diagnosing job redesign opportunities
apter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
and developing solutions. Job redesign efforts often are
tied to broader businesi process restructuring projects.
(More information about working with consultaflt~ is
provided in later chapters.)
12.7.4.2
Mission Statement of the Work Unit
A mission statement defines the purpose of the organization or
work unit. If such a statement does not exist, the analyst
should ask the manager of the unit to one. The objective is
to state the single reason why the organization exists. A
well-designed organizational structure should establish one
main purpose for each unit and secondary goals should be
related directly to this primary purpose. with a clear statement of a
work unit’s mission, the analyst can then determine tIlL extent to
which current procedures support that mission and whether
the zational structure is consistent with the mission.
12.7.4.3
Work Flow Analysis
Before redesigning a job, the analyst should determine
precisely what tasks are be ing done in the work unit and
what purposes they serve. It is helpful to draw flow
diagrams similar to the ones in Figure 12-6. (Details on
how to draw a chart are provided in later chapters.)
Figure 12-6
Work flow diagrams of a clerical operation
Source: Courtesy of Roy W. Walters and Associates, Inc.
Revised Clerical Work Flow
Start
Account Clerk
(Process,
Check,
Sign
and
Mali)
End
414
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of
Information Technology
Roy W. Walters and Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in job design, suggests that questions such
as those that follow be used in analyzing work flow diagrams. How does each employee get the work, and where does
it go next? How do separate tasks relate to one another? Are all current tasks necessary? Can any tasks be eliminated?
For example, are reports prepared that are not used? Could reports be prepared less frequently? Is all the information in
the reports needed, or would a more concise report serve just as well—or perhaps better? Should any tasks be added?
Should additional information be included or current information be replaced?
12.7.4.4
Observations and Interviews
The analyst’s observations of the work unit and knowledge of the new technology to be implemented are key to
understanding the opportunities for job redesign. The analyst should also solicit the observations of knowledgeable
senior managers about the unit’s operation. Individuals familiar with similar operations in other enterprises also can
provide valuable insights. Also, the employees serving in the work unit are a key source of information and can
provide valuable insights into work procedures, problems, receptivity to change, and ideas for improving the work.
Analysts should not overlook the clients of the work unit as a valuable source of information. Clients may include
other departments or individuals within the enterprise who receive output from the unit, as well as consumers of the
enterprise’s products or services. It is important to determine how the client defines a superior service or product.
To gather information, the analyst can use either formal or informal interview techniques. Keep in mind, however,
that interviewers should spend 80 percent of their time listening. (Interview techniques are summarized in a later
chapter.) Data from interviews and observations can provide information about the unit’s mission, detailed work
procedures, efficiencies and inefficiencies of the work flow, who makes decisions about work, who evaluates work,
and how the unit relates to other organizational units. The analyst should be sure to assess the perceptions, attitudes,
and feelings of employees about their jobs and the organization.
12.7.4.5
Survey Instruments
The analyst can develop or purchase survey instruments to obtain detailed information about the jobs that are
candidates for redesign and the skills, needs, and motivations of the employees who staff the positions. One such
instrument, the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS), was developed by Hackman and Oldham to gauge the degree to which
each core job dimension exists in a given job. The JDS asks ob jective questions to measure the core job dimensions and
subjective questions to measure employee attitudes related to job satisfaction, motivation, and personal growth. The JDS is used to
collect information from job incumbents. A separate instrument, the Job Rating Form (JRF), would be used to collect data
describing a job from others in the organization besides the jobholder.
12.7.4.6
Physical Layout
The physical layout should support the work flow. When jobs are redesigned and work flow is changed, the physical
layout also may need to be redesigned (see chapter 10).
When work was redesigned in the field offices of a large insttrance company, creating the new position of client
service representative, the physical layout of the
office was redesigned, as well. Each client service representative was assigned a
12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
new workstation that was designed ergonomically to
provide room for a PC, printer, client files, reference
materials, personal items, and work area. The work
station area was designed in a U shape to facilitate the
work flow and provide cofl~ venient access to necessary
materials. Sound-absorbing panels created privacy,
reduced disruptions, and housed electrical cables and
wiring.
The end result was a more productive work
environment. Having all essential information at their
fingertips contributed to client service representatives’
achieve ment of objectives such as being able to respond
to 90 percent of client inquiries iim mediately,
eliminating the need for callbacks after information was
gathered.
12.8
TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS
DESIGN IN PERSPECTIVE
PROCESS,
AND
JOB
The major goal of BPR and job design programs is to improve performance in meeting customers’
needs and carrying out the organizational mission. When BPR and job
design principles are coupled with technological
innovations, enterprises have new
opportunities to rethink the way products and services are
produced and delivered.
Using technology to create routine jobs that can be
easily performed with minimum training constrains
the capabilities of both technology and
people. The greatest potential of information
technology in the long run derives from the
computer’s capacity to enhance human capabilities.
Just as humankind has historically used the lever to
amplify the physical
strength of the body, we can now use the computer
to extend the thinking and creative power of the
mind.... Those organizations that learn to use
technology to unleash and capitalize on people’s
creative potential will have a tremendous
competitive advantage.
By this point, a reader may feel overwhelmed by the
number of factors that affect the way work is organized
and managed. This is precisely why organizations do not
undertake these projects more often. Theories can serve
only as aids in planning design strategies; no blueprints
detail how changes should be implemented. The use of
technology as an enabler to redesign processes and jobs
is largely uncharted territory. It takes skilled,
knowledgeable analysts, working with organizational
development specialists and department management, to
implement effective job design or business process
changes. EUIS analysts must be sensitive to the ways
that technology affects organizations, business
processes, and people and be prepared to deal with them.
1 2.9
SUMMARY
Business process and job (re)design play a vital role in making technology payoff. To achieve the full benefits of
information technology, project managers must address organizational issues, as well as technical ones. Implementing
end-user solutions is as much about new ways of working as it is about technology. This chapter discusses the effect of
technology on the design of business processes and knowledge work.
Technology is both an enabler and a constraint on business process, work group, and job design. BPR and job
design can be approached at different levek
416
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of
Information Technology
At the enterprise level, BPR generally focuses on reengineering an
entire organization or a department or division within the organization.
At the business process level, reengineering efforts are smaller in
scope and can occur at the unit, work group, and job levels. Because
improvement efforts usually are driven or enabled by information
technologies, EUIS project managers and analysts may be called upon to
lead or contribute to such efforts.
BPR challenges the core business processes or assumptions underlying a
business process. Before undertaking BPR efforts, enterprises must define
their core business processes. Various reengineering methods have emerged,
many of them proprietary to specific consulting firms. In general, BPR
follows a highly structured methodology with four phases involving
diagnosis, design, implementation, and institutionalization.
Technology has affected knowledge work in a number of ways.
Technology takes over some tasks completely, replacing jobs in whole or in
part. Jobs are modified when automation eliminates, adds, or shifts tasks.
Technology also creates new jobs when new tasks are required to support
systems or are generated by new opportunities. Computers make work more
abstract and alter the worker’s relationship to tasks. In some instances, jobs
have been de-skilled, while in others they have been enhanced. When the
business process changes, the organization’s structure, which defines the
relationships among jobs, also can change.
The influence of scientific management is still prevalent in most
enterprises today, as their production line methods and functional
organizations show. All that is beginning to change as enterprises
begin to understand the dynamics (i.e., new paradigms) of competing
in a twenty-first century, networked global marketplace. The Ford
Motor Company Case at the end of part IV provides a good example.
The chapter describes several work redesign concepts based primarily
on behavioral and sociotechnical systems approaches.
The purpose of a job design program is to organize work and
assign responsibility for completing tasks in ways that create jobs that
motivate and empower employees to achieve organizational objectives. Major
characteristics of motivating jobs are autonomy, skill variety, task identity,
task significance, and feedback from the job itself. Five strategies for
designing individual jobs are combining tasks, forming natural work groups,
establishing client relationships, vertically loading jobs, and establishing
feedback channels.
Designing effective work groups is more complex than designing
individual jobs. Additional characteristics that must be addressed include
task-required inter-dependencies and social interaction. Self-managing work
groups include temporary task forces, permanent cross-functional teams such
as decision-making committees and many types of management teams, and
production teams. By far the most difficult to design are self-managing
production teams.
Technology is a catalyst for redesign programs that provide new
opportunities
for helping people work more productively and creatively.
Redesigning work is a
complex process, but the payoff for those who succeed can be extremely high.
KEY TERMS
‘Accountability
‘Authority
‘Business process redesign (or reengineering)
‘Command and control management
Chapter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
‘Computer-mediated work ‘Core business process
• De-skilling
‘Empowerment
‘Enhancing
‘Job
‘Job design ‘Job enlargement ‘Job enrichment ‘Job rotation
417
‘Quality of work life (QWL)
‘Responsibility
‘Self-managing work groups
• Sociotechnical systems
• Third wave management
• Two-factor theory of motivation
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Define business process redesign. What is the relationship between information technology and business process
redesign?
2. Define job redesign. Discuss the importance of job redesign in the Information Age.
3. List and describe the four phases of BPR methodology.
4. Differentiate task analysis from job analysis.
5. Trace the development of approaches to job redesign from scientific management to third wave management.
6. Technology changes the very nature of work. Discuss. Offer examples of how PCs and digital networks have
changed the way work is done.
7. Define empowerment. How does the concept of empowerment differ from delegation of authority in the industrial
era command-and-control management model?
8. Hackman and Oldham have done pioneering work in job redesign, offering basic strategies for implementing work
design. For each of these strategies, explain how a marketing manager’s job could be redesigned.
9. How do jobs typically get designed? How should they be designed? Who should be involved?
10. Define self-managing work groups. How do they differ from coacting groups? In addition to the five core job
characteristics, what factors must be taken into consideration when designing work for self-managed work
groups?
APPLICATION EXERCISES
1.
Ask a secretary or administrative assistant with 5 to 10 years experience how PCs have changed job requirements and
practices. Compare your answers with those of your classmates. How do the responses compare? Interview a
manager or other knowledge worker who has recently begun using a PC or the Internet. What software are they
using and for what purposes? Ask for a summary of how the job has changed as a result of information technology. Integrate
3.
the answers with your comments. How do your findings compare with those of your classmates?
Find two or three recent articles about business process redesign (reengineering) and job redesign efforts in different types of
enterprises. Identify key characteristics that contributed to the success of the restructuring efforts described in these
articles. As a class, compare the characteristics found in different articles. What role did technology play in these
redesign efforts?
SUGGESTED READINGS
Champy, James. Reengineering Management: The Mandate for New Leadership. (New York: HarperBusiness, A division of
HarperCollinsPublishers, 1995).
Davenport, Thomas H. Process In noz’ation: Rcengineering Work through Information Technology. (Boston: Harvard Business
School Press, 1993).
418
Part IV Workplace Performance: The Impact of
Information Technology
p
Evan, Philip, and Thomas S. Wurster. Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy.
(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000).
Hackman, J. Richard, and Greg R. Oldham. Work Redesign (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1980).
Hammer, Michael. Beyond Reengineering: How the Process-Centered Organization Is Changing Our Work and Our
Lives.
Hammer, Michael, and James Champy. Reengineering the Corporation: A Man(festo for Business Revolution.
(New York: HarperBusiness, A division of Harper-Collins Publishers, 1993).
Ouchi, William. Theory Z: How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge. (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1981).
Weisbord, Marvin R. Productive Workplaces: Organizing and Managing for Dignity, Meaning, and Comniiinity. (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons, 1988).
Zuboff, Shoshana. In the Age of the Smart Machine: Thit’ Future of Work and Power. (New York: Basic Books, 1988).
USEFUL WEBSITES
• Business Processes Reengineering Learning Center-BPR.
http://www.prosci.com/bpraccess.htm
The BPR Learning Center for Business Process Re-engineering provides a number of resources online
including best practices, online tutorial, white papers, and more.
• Process management and improvement.
http://www.dtic.dla.mil/c31/bprcd/3OO3s2.htm
A Department of Defense (DoD) document that
helps explain the differences among various approaches to process management, such as business process reengi neering, business
process redesign, and others. Links are provided to other material from the government’s extensive Electronic College of
Process Innovation.
• Business process reengineering and innovation.
http://www.brint.com/BPR.htm (@BRINT—A Business Researcher’s Interests)
The Business Process Reengineering (BPR) section of @BRINT includes links to BPR articles and papers, books, periodicals,
bibliographies, and tools, as well as other resources and related topics.
• WARIA Web Sites (Workflow and Reengineering International Association). http://zvzvw.waria.conAd5sites.ht,nl This site
provides links to publications, associations, research organizations, and government bodies concerned with work flow and related
topics.
• Process management glossary. http://zvzvw.carras.com/glossary.html
This site defines basic terms and concepts used in process management. Developed by Jim Carras, a Texas-based business process
management consultant, the site includes information about activity-based costing, integrated definition language (IDEF),
cause-and-effect diagrams, knowledge-based processes, and more.
ENDNOTES
1. Derek Slater, “Profile: Ford Motor Company, Alignment Check,” CIO 1 (November 15, 1999), 66.
~. Michael Hammer and James Champy, Reengineering
the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, (New York: Harper Business, A Division of
Harper-Collins Publishers, 1993), 32.
Harold S. Resnich, Business Process Reengineering:
An Executive Resource for Implementation (Boston:
Work systems Associates, Inc., 1994).
Hammer and Champy, op. cit., 35.
Don Hellriegel, John W. Slocum, and Richard W.
Woodard, Organizational Behavior, 4th ed. (St. Paul,
MN: West Publishing Co., 1986), 362.
Frederick Herzberg, Mernard Mauser, and Barbara
Block Snyderman, The Motivation to Work, 2nd ed.
(New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1967), 113-119.
7. A. N. Turner and R. Lawrence, Industrial Jobs and the Worker (Boston: Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration,
1965).
8. J. R. Hackman and G. R. Oldham, Work Redesign, (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1980), 77-80.
9. Eric Trist, The Evolution of Socio-Technical Systems: A Conceptual Framework and an Action Research Program, Occasional
paper no. 2 (Ontario: Ontario Quality of Working Life Center, June 1981), 16.
10. Marvin R. Weisbord, Productive Workplaces, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons, 1988), 159.
11. Thid., 130.
12. Hackman and Oldham, op. cit., 164.
13. Thid., 165
14. Ibid., 67.
15. Resnick, op. cit., 55.
~pter 12 Business Process and Job (Re)Design
16. Weisbord, op. cit., 259.
17. Example adapted from U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, The Automation of America’s Offices (Washington,
DC: Government Printing Office, 1985), 97.
18. Shoshana Zuboff, “New Worlds of Computer-Mediated Work,” Harvard Business Review 82513 (September-October 1982),
142.
19. Joan Greenbaum, Cydney Pullman, and Sharon Szymanski, “Effects of Office Automation on the Public Sector Workforce: A
Case Study,” in U. S. Congress, op. cit., 103.
20. Zuboff, op. cit., 145.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Zuboff, Shoshana, In the Age of the Smart Machine:
The Future of Work and Power (New York: Basic
Books, 1988), 9-10.
24. U. S. Congress, op. cit., 101.
25. John Hoerr, Michael A. Pollock, and David E. White-side, “Special Report: Management Discovers the Human Side of
Automation,” Business Week (September
29, 1986), 70.
26. U. S. Congress, op. cit., 101.
27. Hackman and Oldham, op. cit., 72-73.
28. Ibid., 135-142.
29. Ibid., 168-169.
30. Ibid., 170.
31. Ibid., 174-177.
32. A copy of the JDS, with instructions and scoring information, is available in Hackman and Oldham, op. cit.
33. Elizabeth A. Regan, “Behavioral and Organizational Issues of Office Automation Technology” (Ph.D. dissertation, University
of Connecticut, 1982), abstract in Dissertation Abstracts International 830 9253 (1982), 167.
Case Study The Reengineering of Camera World
Some c-commerce companies believe Internet shoppers are too demanding and impatient. Are shoppers’ expectations really out of
line? When they place an order with a traditional brick-and mortar mail order house for two-day delivery, they receive the package
in two days. The satisfying experience builds customer trust and loyalty in a company and brand. One company that has integrated
their fulfillment into their e-commerce business is Camera World Company.
In the 20,000-square-foot warehouse behind the front office, 15 workers scurry down long concrete aisles, clutching sales
orders fresh off the network printer To the casual observer, these warehouse folk seem to have X-ray eyes. Quickly scanning the
metal racks loaded with thousands of indistinguishable-looking boxes of equipment, they have an uncanny ability to tell a box
holding a $10,000 lens from a virtually identical package bearing a $1,000 one. When they locate the box they’re after, they place it
in a plastic tub; a bar-code check at the packing station ensures that the order is complete. There, a young man nodding to rock music on a boom box pours Styrofoam peanuts into labeled cardboard shipping boxes and then seals the goods with a deft pull and
twist of tape.
Camera World’s order-fulfillment and delivery systems have stood the company in good stead. During the
1999 holiday season, many of the company’s stalwart
300,000 customers came back and spent an average of $600
a pop. Thanks largely to the explosion of interest in digital
cameras, sales soared from $80 million in 1998 to more than $115 million in 1999.
In December 1999, the company’s Web site handled an average of 25,000 unique users each day, and Web sales rose by 245
percent over the previous year’s figure for the month. (At the same time, mail-order business shot up 67 percent, and sales at the
company’s downtown Portland, Oregon, store were up 22 percent.) Some 90 percent of Web and mail-order shipments left the
warehouse within 24 hours. Return rates for Web sales hovered around 4 percent, paralleling the rate of returns from the store and
the mail-order business. “We maintained heavy inventories to ship on time, and it all worked pretty well,” says Camera World’s
new CEO, Terry Strom. “But one thing’s for sure:
the Internet is raising the standard of performance for any retailer.”
No kidding. The 1999 Christmas season, during which shoppers spent an estimated $6 billion online, saw many a Web site
disappointing customers. According to a November 1999 report by the New York City Internet research firm Jupiter
Communications, 46 percent of business-to-consumer Web sites took five or more days to respond to a query, never responded, or
failed to post an e-mail address on the site for customers’ inquiries.
“An awful lot of Web sites don’t realize that customer service should be a priority,” says Jupiter analyst Cormac Foster “They
focus on customer acquisition but don’t spend time on the unsexy stuff, like customer-support infrastructure. Infrastructure doesn’t
get you headlines, but if you don’t have a staff of people to take care of business behind the firewall, you won’t get much.” Case in
point: Toys “R” Us, whose online subsidiary ToysRUs.com (announced with great fanfare in June 1998) found itself suffocating
under the rush of online holiday traffic and was unable to fulfill orders on time. The company’s back-end infrastructure was built to
send truckloads of products to hundreds of stores—not to ship single orders to millions of consumers.
Don’t call Camera World a “click-and-mortar” or an old-fashioned retailer with a Johnny-come-lately Web site. Rather, call it a
dot-corn with lots of back-end “not-coin” experience. Camera World has long known that the boring stuff—attention to the fine
details of customer service, simple and solid fulfillment processes, and trusted supplier relationships—is what really matters.
Unless a company masters those three areas well before putting up a Web site, no amount of bells and whistles or transactional and
design prowess online will make the Web component of the business successful.
Camera World already was known for excellent customer service, but with e-commerce different goals were spelled out. For
starters, the company’s Web pages would have to be transformed from simple brochureware into a true transaction site. Its
back-end systems would have to be married to whatever happened on the Web. The company itself would have to move into a
larger, better-organized space, with a warehouse that would allow orders to be shipped within 24 hours as opposed to the 5 days
required by the mail-order business. To speed everything up, they
had to cut out obstacles. They needed to staff up, to fix the ~ bugs in the computer systems, and to upgrade the telephone systems
for more lines. They also started streamlining processes.
Today Camera World’s site, which costs roughly $10,000 a month to maintain, handles at least 15,000 unique visitors
and 400 transactions a day. It’s now a full-fledged community for shutterbugs. It keeps visitors interested with
increasingly snazzy features—3-D images of featured products, an online auction area, forums, online chats with
celebrated photographers, a selection “wizard” that helps customers choose the right camera by assessing their expertise and frequency of use, and so on.
Customers also can get quick answers to their e-mailed questions. Professional photographers respond to them by
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
Camera World reengineered itself from a brick-and-mortar shipping store to a full-fledged business-to-customer and
business-to-business Web
e-mail or phone—arid customers even receive a notice via e-mail showing them where their question is in the queue. For those who
eschew telephone handsets, an Internet-telephony feature lets customers whose computers are equipped with a sound card and a
microphone connect over the Internet to talk with the sales and support staff.
When a customer orders a camera through the Web site, the transaction is zapped from the servers to the order-fulfillment
database via a dedicated, high-speed Ti line. A software interface between the Web site and the database reads the order and
translates it into the order-entry system. Sales reps, customer-support personnel, and shippers and other warehouse workers can
review the order by tapping into Camera World’s database from PCs.
Every few hours, warehouse personnel print a batch of 50 or so orders. Rush orders are printed on red paper; white paper
signifies a standard UPS ground order. After workers locate the correct products and place thorn in a plastic tub along with the
paper orders, they cart them to the shipping station, where the bar-code checking occurs. If the bar code doesn’t match the order, a
computer screen at the station notes the mismatch. If the match is correct, the inventory database records the product model
number; when inventory reaches a low enough level, Camera World reorders. Once the product is packaged for shipping, it’s
loaded onto a waiting UPS van, which departs at the end of the day. Meanwhile, an e-mail message is sent to the customer, noting
the time the package is scheduled to ship. Using a confirmation number supplied by the company, the customer can check the Web
site to track the order. The customer tracks the package through the UPS link that is on the Camera World Business2Business Web
page.
Most of Camera World’s customers are not aware of these systems and do not really care about the specifics. They are just
extremely satisfied with the customer service and have shown their loyalty when making purchases. Camera World realized earlier
on that they had to provide the same excellent service they had provided for years with the traditional infrastructure.
1.
Sources: Fryer, Bronwyn, “When Something Clicks,” Inc. (March 15, 2000): http://wzvu’. inc.conl/nrticlt’s/dL’tails/ 0,,
ART17848,00.html accessed on 12/26/00; Rigney, Patrick, “Eliminate Fulfillment Problems,” L’-BOSjlIL’ss Ad,’i,or (March 2000),
28—30; Holstein, William J., “Rewiring the ‘Old Economy’,” U.S. Nert’s and World Report (April ~0, 2000), 38—40.
1. Cameraworld reengineered itself from brick-and-mortar shipping store to a full-fledged business-tobusiness Website.
Customers always had been Camera World’s top priority. How did the Web site change customer relationships?
2. Many retailers maintain a Web presence. Camera World decided they wanted a fully transactional Web site. What back-end
system changes were necessary? Consider changes to design, hardware, software, and so forth.
3. In the near future, a greater percentage of camera suppliers will sell their products via the Web. What are some changes that
Camera World could make to enhance their fulfillment process?
4. Visit Camera World’s Web site (zozvzv.camerazvorld. corn) and Kodak’s Web site (zvzvw.kodak.corn). Browse the two sites and
note their similarities and differences. Do the sites serve different customers? In your opinion, which site is more customer
friendly? Why?